Power Outage in Morgantown, WV

High wind gusts accompanied a strong low pressure system on December 23rd and continue into December 24th. Measured wind gusts across northern WV ranged between 40 to 50mph, sustain winds exceed 30mph. Isolated power outages occurred.

A tree and power lines were reported to be blown down.

Multiple reports of tree and power line damage were received from across the county.

Trees and power lines were reported down in the area of Wadestown.

The Monongalia DOT reported that a tree was blown down on Cheat Road before the Ices Ferry Bridge. Widespread power outages were also reported south of I-68 by county 911 officials.

The National Weather Service survey team confirmed a tornado near Cheat Lake in Monongalia County, northern West Virginia on June 23, 2017.Focus for damage was in the vicinity of Lakeside Marine and Crab Shack Caribba. In this area, several docks and two pontoon boats were thrown across the marina, with the two boats placed upside|down closer to the Crab Shack. Canopies from several of the docks were strew about, with one wrapped around power lines behind the marina. Some damage to trees was observed, with large branches snapped off of hardwoods and a few trees uprooted close to the lake shore, and several more hardwood and softwood trees snapped half way up their trunk or uprooted moving eastward up the hill toward Mont Chateau Estates. Most of the damage to structures was from fallen trees, but a portion of the roof of a small establishment next to the marina and Crab Shack was ripped off and placed westward toward the lake shore, opposite the storm track.

Law enforcement reported trees and power lines down.

The media reported trees and power lines down in Star City and Morgantown.

Newspaper accounts showed trees and power lines down in scattered location from Blacksville to east of Morgantown.

Law enforcement reported widespread trees and power lines down across the county, especially from Everettsville to Stewartstown.

Law enforcement reported widespread trees and power lines down across the county, especially from Everettsville to Stewartstown.

Emergency management reported trees and power lines down along Gladesville RD. A roof was also reported dislodged from an abandoned building.

Emergency management reported trees and power lines down in Morgantown.

Law enforcement reported trees and power lines down in Morgantown.

Emergency management reported trees and power lines down countywide. A roof was blown off a house and a mobile home moved off the foundation just west of Morgantown.

Emergency management numerous trees and power lines down.

Emergency management reported power lines down in Westover.

Power lines down along Route 19.

Trees and power lines blown down.

Trees and power lines downed.

Trees and power lines blown down.

Large trees and power lines blown down by wind on Routes 19 and 119.

Large trees and power lines blown down near Star City.

Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and power lines.

Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and power lines in the Morgantown area.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, January 16th, a powerful polar front jet dug a deep trough into the Middle Mississippi Valley and into the lower Appalachian Range. Here some phasing occurred with the southern subtropical jet providing ample moisture into the developing system. The surface low then deepened as it tracked northeast along the eastern side of the Appalachian Range. As the system strengthened and lifted north, the northern fringe of precipitation began over the Pittsburgh area by 4 PM. As the system intensified, the deformation banded heavy snowfall set up along the PA/OH border northeast into the northern PA counties, and west into OH. Here is where the heaviest snow fell with some locations getting more than a foot of snow. An area of mid and upper level drying set up at the foothills of the Laurel Ridges into Fayette, Westmoreland, Greene, Washington, Marion, and Monongalia Counties. Here is where the dry slot set up cutting into the snowfall amounts ranging from 3 to 6 inches due to periods of sleet and freezing rain. This feature impacted the counties west of I-79 as well, but the mid level drying eventually shifted east shortly after midnight on the 17th as heavier snowfall developed back over the western PA counties. The snow continued into Monday afternoon before dissipating in the lower elevations. Some topographic enhancement led to prolonged snowfall in the higher elevations of Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia into Monday evening, leading to storm totals of up to two feet in the higher elevations of eastern Tucker County. A period of blizzard conditions was also observed in this location during the morning and early afternoon hours of January 17th.

A shortwave trough axis lifted quickly across the Great Lakes and the Upper Ohio Valley on November 15th, taking on a negative tilt as it did so. Deepening surface low pressure tracked across Michigan and into Ontario during the day, whipping a cold front across the region during the late morning and early afternoon. Some of the classic ingredients for a widespread wind event were present, including a negatively- tilted trough, jet positioning over the region, and a favorable Great Lakes surface low track. Strong post-frontal 3 hour pressure rises of 5-7 mb were observed, and a low-topped mostly lightning-free convective line accompanied the boundary. Widespread wind gusts of at least 45-55 MPH were observed, with several higher measured gusts seen. Along the convective line, gusts of 55-65 MPH likely occurred. This resulted in widespread reports of wind damage to trees and power lines, with a few instances of mostly minor structural damage.

The latest shortwave in a series of such disturbances passed across the region during the afternoon of August 25th. The Storm Prediction Center painted the Upper Ohio Valley with a risk for scattered severe storms. The storms began to develop in the lee of Lake Erie around midday. The storms were able to take advantage of a frontal boundary sagging towards I-70. Shear and increasing instability favored multicells and short bowing segments initially. Activity was eventually able to congeal into a linear MCS as it crossed the Mason-Dixon Line during the evening hours.||Damage in northern West Virginia was mainly limited to trees and power lines from the thunderstorm wind, although one instance of roof damage was reported. Also, an instance of large hail was observed in Preston County.

Strong low pressure lifted from the central Plains on the morning of the 23rd into the western Great Lakes by the 24th. A cold front then rushed across the region during the late morning/early afternoon hours of the 24th. Some rain showers accompanied the front, but the main story was the prolonged period of damaging wind gusts that followed the frontal passage. A very tight pressure gradient, 3 hour pressure rises on the order of 7-8 mb/hr, and deep mixing of up to 700 mb allowed for the efficient downward transport of strong wind aloft. The result was an extended period of 40-60 MPH wind gusts across the region. Several reports of peak gusts of 60 MPH or greater were received, ||The highest recorded gust was 74 MPH at a mesonet sensor east of Canaan Heights in Tucker County, WV. A number of peak wind gusts in excess of 60 MPH were observed as well. There were widespread reports of downed trees, power lines, and structural damage across the entire region, with some examples noted in the county entries. Thankfully, no injuries were reported from wind effects.||Power outages were widespread as well. A peak of 91,000 outages were recorded in West Virginia on the night of the 24th. Full restoration took multiple days due to the extent of damage and the initially unsafe working conditions due to the ongoing wind.

An anomalously strong ridge centered across the Southeast brought record heat to the Upper Ohio Valley with the area in a zonal flow on the northern edge of the ridge. A weak frontal boundary extended from northern Indiana into western Pennsylvania. Abundant moisture (1.75-2.00 PWAT), strong instability (SBCAPE 4000-5000 J/kg), moderate shear (40kts 0-6km), and a short wave just south of the boundary provided the ingredients for a long-tracked mesoscale convective system, classified by the Storm Prediction Center as a derecho, to track all the way from northern Indiana across eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania, northern WV, and western Maryland. As the MCS crossed the area, widespread wind damage was reported across areas primarily south and west of Pittsburgh. There were several reports of structural damage and damage led to a fatality when a barn collapsed in Muskingum county. Power outages were widespread with up to 130,000 outages reported immediately after the storms passage, most of which, were in Ohio. Muskingum and Guernsey counties sustained $712,000 and $500,000 in damages respectively. This also became on of the the costliest disasters to hit Ohio, right behind Hurricane Ike in 2008. Across West Virginia, the following was the preliminary damage for public assistance only: Marion $171,000, Marshall $138,000, Monongalia $57,000, Preston $123,000, Tucker $52,000, Wetzel $286,000.

A large area of low pressure moving north from the Gulf of Mexico on February 5th combined with low pressure across the Ohio Valley and intensified over the Mid-Atlantic states. This produced an historic snow storm across western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, Garrett county Maryland, and eastern Ohio from the afternoon of February 5th to the afternoon of February 6th. Over 2 feet of snow fell across portions of Garrett county Maryland, and in Preston and Tucker counties in West Virginia, with locally 3 feet in some locations. Storm totals ranged from 37 inches in Friendsville, MD to 22 inches in Terra Alta, WV. Across Pennsylvania, 18 to 24 inches of snow fell roughly between an area from SR 422 and I-70, with 21.1 inches of snow falling in Pittsburgh. This was the 4th largest snowfall on record in Pittsburgh. Over 2 feet of snow fell in the ridges of Westmoreland and Fayette counties in Pennsylvania. Along and north of I-80 in Pennsylvania 6 to 18 inches of snow fell. South of I-70 in Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia amounts ranged from 10 to 20 inches. North of I-70, in eastern Ohio, snow accumulated 12 to 18 inches. The snow was wet and heavy in Pittsburgh and areas south, bringing down trees and power lines with around 200,000 people without power at some point after the storm. Roads were not passable for 2 to 3 days in some locations, and power was not restored to some homes until 3 days after the storm.

A powerful cold front moved across the Ohio Valley on the evening of the 11th as strong low pressure moved north across the Great Lakes. A convective line along the cold front produced widespread damage across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and Garrett county Maryland with thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 to 70 MPH and a peak wind gust of 92 MPH at Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh. High winds gusting to 60 MPH behind the front in a strong pressure gradient produced wind damage across the entire region into midday on the 12th. In all across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and Garrett county Maryland over one half million homes and businesses were without power at some point during the storm.

The first snow storm of the season started 8 PM EDT on 24th and became heavy during the night. Morgantown accumulated 5 inches of snow by 8 AM on 25th; totaling 6" by 11 AM. By 2 PM on 25th, the temperature had risen to 34 F, and the precipitation changed to rain. The wet, heavy snow knocked down numerous trees, which fell onto power lines.

A deepening area of low pressure moving eastward across the northern Great Lakes swept a strong cold front across northern West Virginia during the late afternoon/early evening hours of the 9th. This intensifying low produced a large area of strong low-level winds, both ahead of and behind the cold front. Winds of between 70 - 80 MPH were present just a few thousand feet off the surface across the area by the mid-afternoon hours. As showers formed during the day, these strong winds were occasionally brought down to the surface. To further complicate matters, by the late afternoon hours enough instability was present to produce a line of severe thunderstorms along the main cold front as it entered northern West Virginia. This combination of strong gradient winds and severe thunderstorm winds produced widespread damage across the area, mostly in the form of downed trees and power lines. These high winds continued after the cold frontal passage, downing trees and power lines, until the early morning hours of the 10th. At that time, the surface low moved off into Quebec and the strong gradient winds finally diminished.

An intense area of low pressure passing over the region brought a prolonged period of high winds to northern West Virginia. Wind gusts estimated to around 60 MPH continued from late morning into the early evening hours, downing numerous trees, large limbs and power lines across the entire area.